An Honesty; Instinctive and Pure

Summary:

'He tried to suppress his instincts to make Yixing belong to only him, it was sickeningly possessive and Yifan had always expected as such from the wolf within him. He wasn't sure how he would react when Yixing came into contact with other wolves, especially alphas. Even though Yifan knew he was the one with the most power amongst the raging egos that had been invited to Yixing's birthday. It set fire to his body, sent streams of anger to his fingertips where his nails sharped out to appear like claws and he fought the urge to take the omega and run back to his territory. To his kingdom where he was king and could covet his mate entirely.'

Notes:

This was written to sate the urge to write more wolf AU and be productive during my Brother Issues block :D

Work Text:

The air of exclusivity that surrounded his birthday was nothing out of the norm for Yixing. He had been raised to be a part of the upper echelons of society while maintaining the knowledge that he would be nothing more than a pawn to those who surrounded him; omegas always made for better bargaining chips than a beta or alpha. His birthday was a marker, a sign that his body was ticking towards its prime and that there was a time limit on how much more time he would be able to spend with his family until he was sent away to act as a peacekeeping gift. There was a twisted sense of hope within him that he would be the sole mate of whoever he was presented to, unlike a sister he had never had the chance to meet. He had heard from one of the older betas of the pack that she was given to an alpha who had already mated, his own omega not being of the right bloodline to bear the children of a pack alpha and his sister was given to be more of a child carrying vessel than anything else.

Yixing wanted to be the one who was solely loved by whoever he was given to, he didn't crave power but he wished that he could be involved in the care of a pack. Each of his instincts told him to draw each of the pack-wolves in by their hearts and nurture them into full bloom, even if they were over thirty years his senior. His mother told him that he was something called an alpha omega; somebody who was not submissive to the pack but submissive to the pack's needs. There was a fine difference between the two, according to the woman and Yixing could sense it slightly. He did not cower under the gazes of his older brother, the next alpha, when it came to defending his pack-mates but was more than willing to give in when it was just a conflict between the two of them.

His twenty-first birthday marked the end of his stay in a place that he called home for his entire life. Not that he wasn't prepared for it, his entire life had been based around that one day where he would be given as a gift, rather than receive them.

"Are you ready?" he heard Tao ask from his side, the blond boy had been taken under Yixing's wing once the elder's alpha omega instincts had kicked in. Yixing knew that his leaving of the pack would open Tao up to insecurities and vulnerabilities that neither had yet discovered, it would hit the younger omega hard.

"I've been ready for years, Tao," Yixing looked at the blond through the mirror. "And tonight would happen even if I'm not ready."

"Not the party, being mated."

Surprisingly, it was something Yixing had actually given little thought to after learning out the life that his sister led. He wasn't sure if he was ready, so he said as much. Tao stared thoughtfully at him, observing the way his breathing shifted to something more shallow and his eyes slowed in their blinking, "But is anybody really ready for it?"

AΩ

Yifan hated his human form with more passion than he held for hunting as his wolf, clothes scratched on his skin and there was a deep whining from the back of his head. He wished he could have remained amongst the pelts and hides of his pack but he had been obligated to attend an evening of veneered society and packs diluted with unsuspecting humans. In early years, Yifan had viewed the birthday celebrations of this sort superfluous and a show of complete decadence. He still felt the same as his bow tie choked at his throat while he was driven to the venue in a completely blacked out car.

His suit was newly worn, freshly bought and he vehemently disliked the way the silk rubbed against the shirt, the way the lapels shone softly as the light shifted, he hated how the black framed him to be something different amongst the unknown. Yifan knew that he would be the only wolf in the room with a black silk collar; it was a sign of status and pack rank.

It wasn't that Yifan felt as though everybody else with their navy, ochre and carob were below him in any way but they were. He had worked through years, decades mounded on decades, to reach the tier he had risen to. Yifan's pack were licking at the status of royalty and, as the wolf at the helm of that, there was a sense of otherness in his aura. His pack would never label him as domineering but he knew the rest of his kind did; their view upon firm but fair chewed up through whispers and rumours to make it easier to swallow the dominance he brought.

The alpha was only attending the birthday as a part of an obligatory promise to be a diplomatic presence amongst his 'underlings', to halt any in-fighting around humans and to maintain the interests of the wolf world in the partnering of the alpha omega at hand.

Pulling up to the building that was swelling with the presence of humans and wolves alike was a barrage on his heightened senses that made him want to retreat to the forest that lined the neoclassical architecture. He barely even registered the humans he passed as he made his way inside to have his entrance and then he could leave the indoors to go back to where he was most comfortable; nature. He made eye contact with the alphas dotted around the room, each dipped their heads in acknowledgement and Yifan was thankful that many of the older alphas knew of his quiet disposition.

He made his way around to the hosting alpha, watching as the man fumbled over the words to use in greeting and Yifan was thankful that his wife took over as quickly as she did.

"Alpha, it's a pleasure to have your presence." She bowed slightly differently to her husband, her head tilted to the side before lowering. She showed her neck to him before her forehead began its descent. "The side doors are open, if you wish to retire to the forest or there is a lake a few hundred metres away, it's a pack favourite but still very secluded."

"Thank you." Yifan bowed in return as an act of gratitude with a tip of his neck.

He moved away from them, having made his attendance known, and took the route to where he knew he could seek his refuge outside where he could feel life teem on his skin and connect with everything to do with the wilderness once again. His feet took him through the woodland, his ear half staying on the inside of the building to keep note of the proceedings and Yifan's fingers twitched as they hung by his sides, they cried for him to remove the stiff jacket from his shoulders.

He walked continuously until he came to an outhouse, it was just as lavishly adorned as the main building but the scent of omegas swarmed beneath his nose and he knew to steer clear of the shined granite structure. It was no place for him to be un-mated and powerful, even if he did have a couple centuries of control beneath his belt. Especially when his wolf lived so closely to the surface of his skin, his assumed true form, unlike the packs inside the hall who were all humanised with minimal shifting.

The alpha backtracked to go in the opposite direction, avoiding all chances of coming into contact with the omegas and found his sanctuary in a field of thigh high grass and lichen covered rocks. The shades of green, which his wolf saw in grey, were familiar and rough under his hands as he skimmed across them and caught on the jagged edges of the stone. The threading of his soul into the world around him happened almost instantly and the beast within him calmed as the hum of nature flowed through every particle of his being. He no longer felt tangled up in weeds or drowned in the lake metres from where he stood, it was like a temporary illness to be apart from the forest.

Nothing shifted around him as he silently stepped around on the undergrowth, his shoe clad feet shined with patent leather but that did nothing to detract from his stealth as he immersed himself in the cool atmosphere brought by the wind. There was a scent amongst the earthy tones that told Yifan that he was no longer alone in his spot of fleeting sanctuary. He turned towards it and followed the trail through the falling leaves, the omega was alone and while Yifan knew he wasn't to surround himself with the weaker wolves, he had a duty to ensure their safety. Much like he did with those in his own pack. The alpha set out towards the wandering omega at a noiseless pace and he quickly caught sight of blond hair atop a slender body.

"Omega," he called out, startling the other into hiding behind the closest tree.

Yifan could smell something he hadn't since his childhood, the saline drips of teardrops laced through the breeze and he felt stilted in what he was doing. He had always surrounded himself with like-minded wolves; hardened by time or pain. While crying was not a sign of vulnerability to the alpha, it was an acceptance of emotional spectrum and understanding, however, his years had stripped the clear sense of empathy and compassion straight from his bones. He did not cry. Nor did his pack.

"Omega," he repeated, covering his uncertainty with a confident raise of his hand. "Shift into your wolf, it will rationalise whatever plagues you. I will remain as a human; it will make you feel safer, too."

The other wolf considered it before the tearing of clothing was heard over the soft songs of birds and treading of deer, a relatively small sandy coloured wolf emerged out from behind the bush and walked to Yifan's side. He still had his palm overturned but he crouched down to eye level with the wolf to help him draw in his scent to determine whether Yifan was friend or foe. Once the omega had taken in enough, he withdrew and displayed his submission by laying out on his back, displaying his stomach which Yifan felt his lips quirk up at the trusting sight. His upturned hand flipped around and rubbed at the soft fur that covered the fleshed tummy. There was a soft whine at the sign of attentiveness from the alpha and Yifan watched as the wolf's tail slowly swayed to and fro.

It was far easier to deal with a wolf than a human, especially when he was so in tune with his own and its instincts. There were no theatrics, only raw animalistic emotion and feeling. Yifan could do primal, he could always handle and control primal.

"Do you feel better now?" The young wolf nodded, a chuff of air leaving his snout almost wetly. "Shift back if you feel safe enough."

The young wolf rose to his paws, his head bowed down submissively as he retreated back to the bush where his clothes had been torn by his shift, Yifan waited until he saw the blonde hair mound up behind the foliage.

"Is there anything I can help you with? If you are in need," the alpha asked, making the tear glimmering eyes look around at him with a soft countenance.

"The omega who is being gifted today is my best friend." The statement shocked Yifan, he knew that the wolf who was being given away that day was an alpha omega, a creature who should have surrounded itself with power and not omegas who verged on being cowering runts. "I don't want him to go."

"But you want the balance between the packs to be maintained, yes?" Yifan queried, making the omega sniffle loudly.

He croaked, "Yes."

"Then you should be proud of your friend who is playing their part in diplomacy." Yifan knew his words were not those of comfort but he felt as though a little bit of pragmatism couldn't hurt the young wolf.

"I don't want him to leave because I only wish for his happiness," the blond whined, heartbroken for his friend, "I worry he will be hurt or used by the alpha, I don't have high hopes after everything that happened to his sister."

Yifan knew of the incident the omega had spoken of, the last alpha omega who had been produced from the omega's pack was given away unjustly. It was something Yifan had mulled over for days before giving his seal of approval; he had to consider the happiness of one in conjunction with the happiness of a species. The wolves won and the girl was given to the torture of being marked by somebody who had a mate, a reduction in rank and connection to the wild around her. Yifan did not lose sleep over it but he felt it dent against the iron casing he had in his chest.

"I see," he hummed, eyes unmoving from the half of the face the omega was revealing to him.

"It's stupid really."

"Caring for your packmate is not stupid, there is weight in loyalty, omega." Yifan heard the other exhale in a long sigh. "You should go back to the others, I am sure that your friend is missing you."

"Will you take me?" Unsteady and uncertain was his voice. "I don't want to be alone."

Yifan debated the request before nodding, "Shift into your wolf and I will. I don't think it would be good if you are naked upon your return."

The ochre shade wolf revealed itself once again and Yifan stood to walk back to the main house, he felt the hotly moist breath of the animal on his heels and found a fraction of the comfort he longed for with his own pack return to him. He did not want to enter the building but the wolf that was almost pressed against his leg needed the stability to guide him through until he found somebody he was soothed by. They walked into the marble floored hall through a side door, Yifan's shoes clicking in time with the wolf's claws across the glossed floor and Yifan could hear the soft murmuring from confused humans and the silent gasps from the other wolves. The alpha didn't care for it all that much. He never did.

"Taozi, where on earth ha-" an unfamiliar voice called and Yifan's chest was plunged into an ocean of ice.

Mate.

The omega, black haired and brown eyed, froze in front of Yifan with his mouth agape. However, the alpha did spy the slight shift of the younger man's Adam's apple, the scent of curiosity, fear and concern fogged around them.

Yifan's wolf clawed painfully in the pit of his stomach to be released and to accept its mate instantly but the alpha needed to display control over himself. He was to set an example and he was thankful that his expression had not changed out of its aloof and stern cast it was normally in. "He was in the forest."

The alpha knew he could not let himself get lost in looking down at the beautiful alpha omega in front of him, his eyes crawled up to the hosting alpha.

"I think he needs to go to his own space, he needs some time to rest and process the evening," Yifan's voice remained level, despite the beast raging within him wanting to press the young wolf before him into the closest wall and leave an everlasting mark on his neck. "Omegas feel things more sharply than we do."

The wolf scampered through the house once his alpha and his mate had stepped aside to let them through, however, the omega gave him a courteous bow of his furry head. The omega still stood in front of Yifan had not moved an inch, his eyes still cast in a stare at the alpha's face and Yifan maintained his appearance of nonchalance. A large part of him knew he could not claim the omega for his own, not while he was a gift. There was nothing Yifan's rank, power or wolf could change. He would have to deal with the alpha omega fulfilling his given destiny as an offering of peace, it was him who held the power of peace until the next omega of his type came along. His inner wolf did not agree with that notion, his growls were heard like thunder underwater and Yifan blocked it out as best as he could. There was a definitive and undeniable possessive streak within his wolf and that was usually only unleashed when he felt that his own pack was threatened but the omega stood within an arm's reach from him had the alpha wolf baying within him to surface and be the one to claim what was rightfully his.

He took one step away from the alpha omega and that jarred the smaller man into movement, his face sealing back up but the scent of each of his emotions hid nothing from Yifan's knowledge. The alpha knew his own scent would remain emotionless, the control he had with his wolf allowed him to cut off the connection he had to his emotions, something that was always needed in staying level headed in the world in which he resided.

Yifan left the hall, his legs weighing heavily as he took steps away from the one he knew would be the complete other half to his soul, his heart and his wolf. Yifan had let the feeling of sadness fade away long before in the past, way back when his life was shifted turbulently but he felt the edges of unhappiness cut its way into his chest. His wolf begged, whining like a sobbing omega, to take away the steps he had taken from the wolf he had felt love at first sight for.

The only option left to him was to shut out his wolf, to sever the only connection he had to nature in his human form, and he found himself running. He wasn't running away, he was just running while he felt branches of trees whipping on his face and cutting open the skin before they healed almost immediately and Yifan hated the silence within his own head at the fact that his wolf had been pushed into a soundproofed cage. It went against all his instincts to move away from the omega but he knew it needed it to be that way. He had his own duties to decide what was best for his kind, even if that meant going forward with a weak and irrational heart.

"Why are you running from me?" A voice asked, yelling out in a way that was uncaring of rank and Yifan could feel the sadness coming through the air, through the small link that was left draping limply between them without his wolf there to tether them together.

"You should go back."

"Why?" the young man rebutted immediately, making Yifan turn to face him.

"Because I told you to," Yifan hated the force he put into the words, he watched as the omega recoiled submissively but he was caught in his interest as he watched the other fight against the command. "It's easier if you go back."

"Easier?" the omega scoffed, his feet twitching to obey as his teeth ground in resilience, "Easier? Just because you can shut everything out; your emotional scent, your wolf and the ingrained obligations to your mate does not mean that I can."

"Omega," Yifan began.

"My name is Yixing."

"Yixing," Yifan restarted, observing how the younger's wolf flicked forward before retreating at the sound of his human's name. "You have your onuses that you cannot go back on."

"But we're made for each other, everything else shouldn't matter."

"What is life without a purpose?" Yifan stepped forward a few paces, bringing Yixing within grabbing distance.

"What is purpose without love?" the omega defied, his own feet taking him closer to Yifan where he lifted his palm up to touch at Yifan's cheek in an action he had not felt since his mother had been alive when he was a child.

Something tore within Yifan's head and suddenly he was pushed back into the boundaries his wolf had been captured in. He felt his body move against his will and he was pressing Yixing up against a tree with a possessive grip of his hips and each lung filling with the younger's scent. His nose was pressing against where the blood in Yixing's neck pulsed at its strongest and he felt his mouth water, his teeth aching as they grew into lupine fangs.

He watched in despair as Yixing tilted his head back submissively, he felt his wolf growl and Yixing's hand was pressing on the back of the alpha's head to draw him in closer to the unblemished skin of his seductively curved neck.

"Please, alpha," he heard the omega goad, encouraging his wolf to sink his teeth through the flesh. "Mark me," he heard the omega plead, his voice breathy. "We belong to you, alpha."

That was when his wolf broke, Yixing's skin was between his lips and dug into with his teeth. His mouth flooded with the blood of his mate; saccharine and like an aphrodisiac created purely for him. It dribbled from the edges of his lips until it slipped down to his chin and fell in a droplet against his shirt, his wolf wouldn't stop growling out its delight in being owned by Yixing. He pulled away ever so slightly to see the human part of Yixing to be the one who had encouraged his wolf into marking him.

"You're mine, mate," the words fell from his lips as his wolf spoke and he watched as Yixing nodded, revealing his freshly bitten in mark on his neck for Yifan to lap at until it stopped bleeding.

"Yours, alpha," the omega echoed, moaning softly as Yifan's tongue came into contact with the torn skin that had four perfectly spaced holes in it.

It shouldn't have shocked Yifan, but it still did, when his wolf ran his fingers through Yixing's hair and placed tender touches against the omega's body to stop the aftershocks of their bond forming from overpowering the omega. He could feel as his wolf welcomed the binding powers of the mate bond into their body and Yifan pushed against his wolf as hard as he could, he hated fighting with the beast but he had to stop things from going any further.

When Yifan finally got through to the surface, he tore himself away from the omega and felt his anger ripple through his body until his fist came up and planted itself harshly against the bark above Yixing's head. His breathing, through both the flurry of unwanted emotion and the exhaustion of the bond forming, was haggard and he himself growled that time around. "Why did you do that when you knew I wasn't in control? Do you know how stupid that was? He's been alone for centuries and wasn't in control of himself. You have no idea how fucking stupid you are."

"He wouldn't hurt me," Yixing panted, his fingers covering the mark to ensure that it was really there.

"How could you possibly know that?"

"Because he loves me," the omega argued and Yifan moved as far back as he could from Yixing without going too far. Not that he could run away while their bond was forming without harming himself or the omega.

He watched as Yixing shifted and began to stalk slowly towards him, being a predator, Yifan didn't back away. He stood his ground until the omega was stood in front of him. "He liked being called alpha, maybe you'd like this," Yixing leaned up until his lips skirted over Yifan's ear. "My alpha."

There was no fibre in his body that did not like the way those two words dripped from Yixing's lips like honey through his mind yet he could not allow himself to relish and purr like his wolf was; remained level headed was the goal.

He pulled away from Yixing, hating how his wolf whined so loudly in his head that he wanted to flinch, "Call me Yifan."

"Yifan," the omega rolled the name around on his tongue, testing out the way it felt and sounded to himself.

It was that moment that Yifan decided to turn on his heel and go back to the house, he knew that he should take them both back to the safety of numbers where the omega would not dare to be as forward as he was in his bids to tempt Yifan into throwing caution into the wind. Yifan wanted to keep the omega's body pressed to his and to ward everybody away from what was his.

He tried to suppress his instincts to make Yixing belong to only him, it was sickeningly possessive and Yifan had always expected as such from the wolf within him. He wasn't sure how he would react when Yixing came into contact with other wolves, especially alphas. Even though Yifan knew he was the one with the most power amongst the raging egos that had been invited to Yixing's birthday. It set fire to his body, sent streams of anger to his fingertips where his nails sharped out to appear like claws and he fought the urge to take the omega and run back to his territory. To his kingdom where he was king and could covet his mate entirely.

Always the rational alpha, Yifan took in a breath and steadied his paces. Yixing was following behind, his body heat passing to Yifan and their closeness was almost overpowering for the alpha. Yifan trudged on through the bracken, his shoes scuffed from running and tie unfurling from where it had been knotted around his neck something which Yixing seemed to notice. The omega tapped softly in repeated fleeting touches on the alpha's back to gain his attention, making him turn around and face the younger. The omega's fingers fiddled with Yifan's bow tie, tightening it until it sat perfectly once more. Yifan was thankful that Yixing didn't not drop to his knees and clean off his shoes, as he was not sure that he could have restrained his wolf if he saw the omega to be quite so submissive.

They entered the hall before Yifan's thoughts were overrun with what his wolf had wanted to him to see since he had first laid eyes on the radiantly beautiful alpha omega, the humans seemed to have been cleared from the room and the remaining wolves saw how Yifan's mouth and shirt was dappled with blood. They most certainly saw how Yixing's neck was adorning a cleaned off bite mark. It looked like a barbaric scene, it appeared as though Yifan was some savage beast who had ravaged a defenseless omega. Yifan felt it to also be that way, despite how the events had unfolded. He heard the soft chatter and felt the way Yixing had recoiled into himself under such heavy stares, his wolf howled out for him to comfort his mate but he resisted as much as he could.

Yifan stood at the front of the room, ahead of large inset windows and bowed in a ninety degree action, straight from his hip, "I apologise to this pack and all those present, it appears as though I cannot control my instincts and I come before you to ask for your gracious forgiveness for this act."

There was a still silence as Yifan rose upright and it remained that way until a small round of applause flowed into the atmosphere. It was intense and confusing for both himself and his wolf. Yet, as Yixing's mother stepped forward and hugged the boy tightly with a face splitting grin. "I'm so proud of you."

Yifan was baffled by her reaction and it seemed that Yixing was too, his eyes were cast widely and they both waited for Yixing's father's reaction, as he did not look anywhere near as pleased as his mate. In fact, he looked enraged and the first of all actions he acted out was a harsh slap against Yixing's right cheek.

It was an impulse, something primal beneath Yifan's skin that had him holding Yixing's father up by his neck with his fingers turning white as the weaker alpha tried to gasp for air. He failed as air wheezed in his throat, his face went from red to purple and blood dripped down Yifan's hand to the cuff of his shirt where his nails had curved into claws. He was driven by his protective urge, his body stood between Yixing's and where his father dangled in a single handed grip. It was a brutal and primitive contest, the alpha within him hated the disrespect shown to his mate and the human half never condoned the violence between families.

Discipline, like what Yifan was doing, was something he never shied away from. Even if the man was supposed to be his elder, he did not care for age when the decision was determined by rank and Yifan was the one who held the power in the room. Or, at least he thought so.

Yixing placed a delicate hand on Yifan's blood soaked wrist and the alpha withdrew to the silent command. He looked at the omega who pressed his fingertips to Yifan's cheek, a mirror of the red mark that was blotted on Yixing's face where his father had hit him. Yifan copied his mate and soothed over the irritated area, Yixing leaned into the touch and kissed Yifan's palm calmly. It was the fastest Yifan had ever been calmed after a fit of rage, he knew it was the bond but Yixing looked up at him with a gaze of awe.

"Yifan," the omega's voice was as silky as the blazer on Yifan's shoulders and the alpha let his wolf come through slightly.

"He hurt you," the beast in Yifan whined, the rumble of it appearing more like a growl towards the end, "We wanted to protect you."

"It's okay," the omega reassured, stepping closer to Yifan's grip.

The alpha was going to say something more but Yixing's father had stood up from where he had fallen down like a bag of bones. It had Yifan twisting his body around slightly to press Yixing to his side while remaining in front of him. He knew his eyes were resplendent shade of gold, showing that it was his wolf that had come forward in that situation.

Yixing's father took a step forward and Yifan growled so lowly, so loudly that the windows shook in their frames and almost everybody, but Yixing, bowed their heads to Yifan as a sign of complete submission to him. The beast was driven to look down at his mate and see if he was impressed by the display of personal power; Yixing smiled and Yifan's wolf preened.

"Let your human come forward," Yixing's father spoke as strongly as he could under the domineering pressure Yifan applied. "I just want to talk, don't force yourself when your human should be here."

"He let me be here," the beast's voice was deeper than Yifan's, there was a chilling quality to it that nobody ever wanted to be on the receiving end of. Other than Yixing, if those words were affectionate. "He doesn't think verbal resolution should be used when it comes to protecting what is ours and defending the dignity of lower ranks."

"Yifan," Yixing whispered, "It's okay, you've protected me."

The wolf frowned, "You still got hurt," his finger traced around the handprint that had not healed. "Why isn't it going?"

"I'm recovering from your mark," the omega shyly showed where the pierced marks were a little raw, blood crusted on the top and Yifan drifted his hand down to rub at the tender spot, enjoying how Yixing shuddered with a small smile on his lips.

Yifan's wolf began to push back at the human side, showing that he wanted to retreat back into their mind and allow Yifan to take the helm once again. The alpha didn't even feel his eyes flicker back to their normal shade of brown, framed by the dark hair that was still perfectly placed on his head. He removed his hand from Yixing's neck but didn't pull away from the omega, who he felt press closer to his side as a sign of affection.

"Is that how he normally reacts to unexpected news?" Yifan asked the smaller male, who considered the question for a few seconds before shaking his head. Yifan could smell the honesty radiating from the younger man and it was a pleasant surprise to see that Yixing wasn't immediately jumping to his father's defence.

"He has a temper but is never usually violent," the boy clarified, making the snarling part within Yifan turn into some kind of docile pup under the warm, kind gaze of his mate.

"Then why?" Yifan turned his attention back to the man whose body had almost completely recovered from the pain inflicted on him at Yifan's hand.

The alpha seemed to stumble over his thoughts, his words coming out as a scramble of syllables and random letters. The dominant part of Yifan spread a cocky smirk across his lips, the sensation of having a mate by his side making him feel as though he was raised to some realm of invincibility, and he felt the sneer leave his lips almost instantly, "So you can confidently abuse an omega but once an alpha flashes some power at you, you recoil into some cub that can't speak a single word coherently? What qualifies you to be able to hurt my mate? Would you stand for somebody harming your wife?"

"How?" Yifan knew exactly how Yixing had gone against a command his father had given.

"I was supposed to choose his mate."

"Does that mean that me and my wolf are not good enough to be your son's destined one? Can we not protect him how an alpha should? Are we not worthy of claiming he who wants to be claimed by us? Do we need to answer to you?"

The alpha was shaking his head, his chin quaking in fear as his teeth chattered against one another and there was tense silence to the room as Yifan raised his eyebrow at their audience. Nobody met his eye or spoke out against his words, not through fear but because they couldn't find any faults in Yifan's worthiness. Despite not even being one of the options for Yixing to be gifted to.

Just the thought of Yixing being palmed off to some alpha who wasn't Yifan as if he was a material item, the most valuable worthless object to somebody who wouldn't give Yixing anywhere near what Yifan could. It riled the beast inside him, his hand clutching at the young man even more tightly than he had been and Yixing nuzzled his face into the alpha's shoulder.

"Then my mate and I will be heading out then," Yifan announced, feeling Yixing freeze against his body and Yifan could feel the uneasiness rolling off the younger in waves. When he looked down at the other, he observed how he watched the exit to access the rest of the building and found his mate's worry endearing. "And we'll be taking the omega I found in the forest earlier, I don't think this pack is the right fit for him."

"Yixing," his mother called and Yifan nudged his mate forward, giving him the opportunity to say some form of a goodbye. It had been known that Yixing would have left that night but then turn in events had deemed Yixing's birthday celebration to be an unforgettable one in the hundreds Yifan had attended during his many years.

The blond haired boy was brought down, a bag carried by the driver who had brought Yifan and Yixing was whispering to his mother who draped herself lovingly across his small body. It was the that Yifan took the opportunity to step closer to Yixing's father, his expression darker without having the touch of his mate to soothe the demon that broiled inside of him.

"If you ever touch what is mine again," Yifan hissed lowly enough that nobody else could hear his firm threat, "I won't hesitate to rip your head clean off your shoulders. I am a king and you are nothing but a disposable nothing to me."

"Yifan," Yixing's voice was calm and light, making Yifan twist around until he could look him in the eye, "I'm ready."

"Let's go then," Yifan smiled, not his unguarded one that he wanted to show his mate but one that nobody in the room had seen from him before. Yixing held out his hand towards the alpha and Yifan looked at it for a split second before taking it and leading the omega out towards where his car had been parked in front of the exit.

"Where exactly are we going?"

"Home," Yifan mumbled, Yixing pressing himself as closely as he could to Yifan's side until they got into the car before he practically threw himself onto Yifan's lap.

"Thank you for bringing Tao with us," Yixing whispered before looking over to where his younger friend was fiddling around with his safety belt.

"He was crying when I found him," Yifan muttered back, looking out of the window as the scenery began to pass them by, "because he didn't want you to leave him and I don't think you wanted to leave him either. It seemed natural."

"Your pack...?" Yixing asked, his voice a little more timid than it had been, his submissive side testing out the boundaries between him and Yifan.

"They're good, I run a tight ship," Yifan's neutral response didn't seem to satisfy Yixing's thirst for knowledge about his new pack and Yifan cursed his wolf for having such a talkative mate when he liked residing in silence most of the time. It wasn't that Yixing didn't seem thoughtful, he was just too full of thoughts. All of which he verbalised in the hours that passed in the journey and Yifan attempted to drown them out by letting his wolf come forward and deal with his chatting mate, as he was more than happy to be a fountain of information for the one whom they had searched for through centuries.

AΩ

Yixing met Yifan's pack as soon as he arrived, the wolves who Yifan was closest to all surrounded the two new additions and Yifan's second in command, Minseok, eyed the marking on Yixing's neck along with all of the blood that his alpha had returned covered in. There were just under sixty wolves who clamoured to get a glance, or touch, of his mate. Yifan growled at almost anybody who got too close - within a metre - to his mate. Yixing giggled at how Yifan's human side had been the most rejecting part of him but in the course of a night, it had shifted to him throwing concern out at everybody who dared to even get within spitting distance of the younger omega.

Tao, however, he left to the wolves. Quite literally. Many of the older wolves took to prodding at his slightly skinny body with talk of how he had all the attributes to be a muscular omega. A force to be reckoned with.

When it came to the question of sleeping, Yifan showed Tao to a room just down the hall from his own, close enough that he could hear or smell if the omega was distressed enough to need either himself or Yixing. Yixing, however, was where the issue lay. Yifan hadn't ever taken somebody into his personal domain nor did he want to assume that Yixing would want to spend his first night with the alpha. So he was shocked when he walked into his bedroom to see Yixing undressing himself, he abruptly turned around and hid behind the door. "Uh, Yixing, do you have night clothes?"

"Alpha," Yixing called and his wolf began to purr in his head.

"Yes, Yixing?" Yifan squeezed his eyes shut as he felt excitement ripple towards him from the omega.

"Why don't you come in and look if I have pyjamas on or not?"

Yifan gripped tighter on the door, a part of him knew that having a mate would be the death of him. He just didn't think that it would have been so soon.

"Can't you just tell me?"

"Where's the fun in that?" Yixing giggled, arousal suddenly hitting Yifan's nose like an intoxicating bullet. "Do you not want your omega to have fun? You are my alpha, aren't you?"

The elder hated how Yixing seemed to know each of the buzzwords to make Yifan want to crawl on the floor and do anything Yixing wanted him to. He had never felt so weak around somebody before, not even when he was a child.

"Alpha," a voice that wasn't Yixing sounded, making the man in question slam the door shut and look around at Minseok who was looking at him with a knowing smile. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yes," he nodded, swallowing down the last parts of Yixing's scent that had trickled through the door.

"You know, he won't stop until you give him what you want," Minseok advised, being the ever knowledgeable mated beta. "Jongdae didn't let me leave the bedroom until I had given him what he wanted thoroughly after I had marked him. Do you not think you can do that for him?"

Yifan knew that the suggested insult was posed to spring the alpha in Yifan to life, he knew he shouldn't have risen to it but the wolf in him rejected the statement with a flare of cockiness, "We can do better."

The alpha barged into his own room, not quite prepared for seeing Yixing laying out on his stomach completely naked with his legs crossed at the ankles. It gave Yifan a perfect view of how Yixing's back curved down in a smooth dip and then rose up to contour to his firm looking behind and Yifan felt weighed down by the hard scent of arousal. Yixing looked over his shoulder at Yifan who was approaching him cautiously and tentatively.

"It's your first night here," Yifan was happy that his voice could remain almost devoid of emotion at anytime he wanted it to. He could not let Yixing know how affected he was by it all. "We don't have to complete the bond right now."

"But I want it," Yixing smiled, dragging himself into the most suggestive position of being up on his knees as he kept his upper half down on the mattress. The alpha could only be glad that he wasn't stood behind the omega to see that position in all its glory. "Please?"

Yifan bit his lip as Yixing sat back and showed his front to Yifan almost unashamedly, if not for the arm that crossed over his midriff in a show of slight insecurity of having his mate looking at him for the first time. The alpha used his hand to pressed Yixing down onto his front again, running his palm down the younger's back as he felt the muscles contract beneath his touch and basking in the attention the Yifan was giving him. The elder stopped his hand short of Yixing's coccyx before returning it back up to his nape in a tempting drag. He did that numerous times over until Yixing's heart could be heard ticking over like a metronome and that was when Yifan replaced his hand with his lips.

Yixing gasped at the soft flesh pressing to his back, he lifted his hips off the mattress and Yifan could see how Yixing wanted to be touched by Yifan. It was a few moments before Yifan let his mouth continue across the soft skin to where Yixing's ass came out delectably. The omega was trying to raise up onto his knees, to be in an extremely submissive pose but Yifan couldn't but tease him by pushing the omega back down to lay flat against the duvet.

"Alpha," Yixing whined, the sharp arousal in the air was joined by the smell of something slightly saltier and Yifan restrained himself from feeling around to discover by himself how hard Yixing was, especially if precum was leaking out so soon.

"Turn over," Yifan commanded and Yixing did instantly, revealing his throat at the same time and the alpha choked at how hard he had very suddenly become. "My god."

Yixing whined, his eyes having turned their own shade of light brown and Yifan adored how Yixing purred at almost every one of his touches. "Alpha."

"Yes, omega," he responded.

"Mate, touch me," the wolf in the omega whimpered. "Mate."

Who was Yifan to resist? He placed a single thumb over one of the omega's nipples and they were hot, hard and deliciously pink. Yifan caressed the skin, swallowing in every greedy shudder he fed himself with and his other had moved to do the same with the other nipple. Yixing was still showing his throat, Yifan's mark sitting a pretty red against the pale skin of his neck. The moaning erupting from Yixing's throat was almost a purr and Yifan adored every second that passed of it.

"Mate, more." Yixing's wolf almost growled and Yifan felt his own wolf seek permission to be allowed to have first contact with the other's animal.

"Omega," Yifan's wolf greeted, he edged onto the rim of the bed. "Behave."

"Alpha," the omega pleaded, sitting himself up to press his body to the older man's to show his want in the most physical way possible. "I want to mate with my alpha."

Yifan knew his wolf would never be able to resist that request and he pushed himself forward and pleaded for Yixing's wolf to let him come forward because their wolves were becoming too excited being around each other.

"Yifan," the now dark brown eyed Yixing spoke softly. "I still want to mate with you."

"I know and we will," Yifan assured the other, "I just have to make sure that you're both willing first, I don't want to get this wrong."

"Why?" Yixing raised an eyebrow.

"I know this is your first time and I don't want to ruin your image of being mated, I guess."

"It's just sex," Yixing shrugged and Yifan pulled away completely.

"No, it's not," Yifan retorted, "It's us tethering ourselves together for the rest of our lives. Mating isn't sex. I can have sex with as many people as I want but I can only mate once, that is not the same thing."

"That's not how I view it," Yixing shrugged and Yifan stepped away from the naked man.

"Maybe you should," Yifan muttered, leaving the room to enter the adjoining office where he stripped off and shifted into his wolf. He fit his large form beneath the table and curled up in a ball to sleep, he could hear Yixing sighing until the omega fell asleep, only then did he dip into slumber himself.

Yifan and Yixing didn't talk of mating with each other again but the alpha had ranted to Minseok endlessly and Yifan was sure that the omega had done just the same to Tao.

"He called mating sex, Seok," Yixing growled, laying next to his friend who was sprawled out in his wolf form on Yifan's bay window. "What's worse, he said it was just sex."

There was silence before Minseok shifted and pulled on some clothing, placing himself down next to Yifan on the floor beside his alpha.

"Think of it this way, he's been raised to expect that he wasn't ever going to have a choice over who he was going to be mated to, of course it isn't going to be described to him like the magical thing that it is. Mating is an accessory to normal wolves, we get to choose or let our instincts show us our true pairing, that makes mating different. It makes it emotional, it makes it important and not just some kind of contract binder."

"My wolf, he's heartbroken," Yifan admitted, having become sick of the way the beast within him was whimpering in the back of his head at every moment. "He wants to be special to Yixing and he wants to feel that when we mate, he's scared he won't if Yixing doesn't take it as seriously as he does. He feels replaceable."

Minseok frowned, "Talk to him? He won't know unless you do."

"I know," Yifan groaned, "I have been alive for far longer than you have."

"Then pay attention to yourself and what your mate needs," Minseok got up and left just as Yixing walked in with a nervous smile on his face, he had never been into Yifan's office and there was an awkward silence as they both avoided the the elephant in the room as best they would.

"Hello," Yixing bowed down slightly and Yifan didn't want him to ever do that but it wasn't even like they were fully mated yet.

"Hello," Yifan nodded, "Do you like it here?"

"It's so beautiful here, the mountains are heaven for my wolf." That made Yifan smile, even just slightly. "The pack is incredible too, there's almost no hierarchy structure. It's more like an actual wolf pack with the filial air around everything."

"I am glad you love our home."

"I want to apologise to you," Yixing's voice cracked ever so slightly but Yifan's hearing picked it up easily. "I've been talking to Tao and Jongdae about things."

"You don't have to," Yifan mumbled, standing up from the floor to sit on the chair behind his desk. "If it doesn't matter to you then it won't to me."

"No, Yifan," Yixing stepped further into the room, "Jongdae told me things about how things works here and I want to tell you that I think it will mean something to me."

"Yixing-"

"You're my mate and I think that it has to mean something if it's going to be forever. I want to feel what Jongdae said he felt with his mate when I get to complete this bond with you. I'm not an apathetic being, I care more than anybody else you have probably ever met and I want to show you that side of me."

Yifan didn't say anything more but was sure to maintain eye contact with Yixing until the younger smiled, the dimple it showed had Yifan's wolf sighing happily and the human side wishing he could roll his eyes at how easily he was swayed by the omega. Yixing excused himself from the office but Yifan could hear him settle on the bed, the flicking turns of book pages and smell the contentment ebbing into the room.

Yifan found it easier to concentrate with Yixing around him, it was as if their bond had both of them settling and growing more relaxed around one another. It was as if their small misunderstanding had made them create a stronger connection as they had longer for each other's casual company that they had never been able to experience before. Yifan realised that Yixing wasn't just the annoyingly talking alpha omega that talked endlessly, he went through long periods of silence that slot right beside Yifan's introversion and Yifan could see why their wolves identified with each other. Yixing was both submissive and confident while Yifan was dominant, usually emotionally unavailable but softened considerably under the setting of natural connection that they shared.

They lived like that for the coming days, the comfortable silence and the unforced chatter passed between them. The omega also didn't seem to mind that Yifan spent most of his time in his wolf form, uncaring that sometimes Yifan even shifted during his sleep. Yixing began to unpick at the tangled mess of Yifan's past and the alpha worried about what he would discover if he looked too deeply. Yixing was an open book with his mere twenty-one years that he recounted to Yifan in a few days but Yifan had centuries of life that had breezed by him and lived multiple lives worth of despair.

Yifan still wanted Yixing all to himself, his wolf had even developed a stupid, irrational bud of jealousy that only grew bigger as Yixing spent his time with Tao and Jongdae. It had led to the alpha keeping Yixing by his side at all times, growling if somebody walked past his bedroom and having to resist releasing his wolf when he saw somebody touch Yixing when it wasn't necessary. The alpha blamed it on their lack of mating, he refused to believe that his wolf was the sort to be completely possessive of what he believed to be his. It was a feeling he knew would never fade and it was at times like that Yifan wished he had his parents to turn to.

"Fanfan," Yixing tested the nickname out on an idle Thursday. "That's what I am going to call you."

"Why?" The alpha laughed, making his way out of the office to sit on the bed beside Yixing.

"Because it will be easier to cry out when you knot me," Yifan's face dropped at the casual tone his mate used, "Fan, Fan, there. Harder, Fanfan. Fanfan, I'm going to, I'm going to cum."

"Why did my wolf choose you?"

"Because I'm a slave for you, alpha?" Yixing joked, making Yifan groan because he hated it when Yixing did that because Yixing was just too perfect and no part of him could handle that.

There were times when Yifan hated his rank, they were infrequent and didn't linger for too long but that had worsened since Yixing had wrapped the alpha round both of his little fingers.

"You're sure you need to go?" Yixing's voice was small in the morning light, making Yifan look at the omega who had unkempt hair, a crinkled shirt and sleep hooded eyes. "What if my wolf falls in love with somebody else?"

"Yes," Yifan huffed, packing his bag up as much as he could without staring at the young man in his bed. The urge to ravage his beautiful mate was at its strongest that morning, "Not all of us can have some big, strong alpha come save us from all of our responsibilities."

"What about an alpha craving mate?" Yixing sat up on his elbows and Yifan smiled at him tenderly, showing the grin he had wanted to since the first day they had met.

"Those have to wait, sadly," Yifan came forward with his bag and kissed Yixing's forehead adoringly. "I'm still a king of our kind, I have a job to do when packs have their little spats."

"I don't want you to go," Yixing whined, his hands clutching at the sheets between his fingers. "I don't want to know what it's like when I miss you."

"Me either," Yifan held his mate's jaw gently, "You'll come with me on these things after we're fully mated, I promise."

Yixing shuffled back on the bed and spread his legs open a little wider, showing his neck to the alpha, "Take me now then you can take me with you."

"I will see you in a few days, Yixing," the alpha laughed, the omega only looked cute in that position rather than the alluringly sexy appeal he was reaching for. Yifan looked at the younger once, who was casting him a forlorn look from the omega upon his mattress.

He closed the door behind him and pretended he didn't hear the soft whimper that wasn't from his own wolf.

AΩ

Since deciding to follow Yifan, Yixing had settled into his life as somebody who cared for the whole pack but he struggled to maintain the will to be there for the pack-wolves while Yifan wasn't there. He lost the drive to be caring for anybody but the mate he longed for, it was irrational and Yixing always felt a little guilty over it but everybody seemed to understand that his wolf felt abandoned by Yifan. Yixing wanted to be the alpha omega that he was always taught to be but his emotions had never played such a large role in his life before, he felt somewhat lost without Yifan's presence nearby and he willed for his mate to be home sooner.

It was on a day where Minseok came to check up on Yixing that the younger male expressed his longing for the alpha and his confusion over why it made him feel so ridiculously off-balance in such a short space of time. That question had Minseok looking out into the hall before closing the bedroom door, approaching Yixing slowly but surely and setting down the tray of breakfast he always brought with him.

"Yifan has had a very complex life," the beta whispered, his tone completely serious, "He grew up in a time where things were so very different to now, in almost every way imaginable. He had siblings and parents, much like yourself, but he was the strongest alpha of all the pups. He was primed for his post, again, much like yourself." Minseok paused, letting his mouth mull over the next words, "Life was lived differently and wolves loved differently too, it's difficult to explain without telling you everything but those are not my secrets to tell. They are Yifan's and I know he will tell you but his past is why you crave each other so much. You have an older connection than us more modern wolves because your dominant is from a bygone time." Yixing followed, feeling more confused than ever before.

"What do you mean?"

"I can't explain without telling you things that I shouldn't." The beta placed Yixing's tray on the bed. "I'll leave you with a thought, have you ever met Yifan's family despite having been here for a few weeks now? Have you seen any photos?"

Yixing immediately knew it was a no, he had not and some part of him told him that h never would, which was a strange feeling to have in the pit of his stomach but he trusted it, he knew that Yifan had his past, who wouldn't after living so much of their life on earth? Somehow not knowing made Yixing feel even more distant from the absent man and he stayed in bed for the rest of that day, his nose buried inches deep in Yifan's pillowcase and the clothes he had lined the bed with.

Yifan's return was marked with Yixing buzzing around the house like an excited bee, his feet took him everywhere but he found himself sitting behind Yifan's desk the most often because the room was potent with the alpha's scent. He changed the bedding and even cleaned the bathroom, it was not a mess but Yixing wanted things to be perfect for Yifan when he came back to his home and expected Yixing to be there waiting for him. Yixing was glad to be the one to do that.

The omega was awoken by the sound of the shower in the bathroom, the gentle stream of water didn't do anything to mask the scent of the man he had craved to be around for almost eleven days and he felt himself smile softly into his pillow. The noises Yifan was making were soft and muted, indicating that he wasn't wanting to wake Yixing but the omega couldn't help that electric pulse in his body that seemed to thrum whenever Yifan was near. Yifan left the bathroom with silent steps, only his heartbeat gave him away and his body was so warm once it laid beside Yixing. The younger hadn't wanted to seem clingy, initially, but once Yifan was within grasping distance he couldn't help but do just that.

His fingers found bare skin and they trailed around the elder's neck to drape there and press comforting circles into the taut muscle, "Hello, mate."

"Did you?" Yifan asked, one of his long arms curling around Yixing's waist affectionately as he nodded, "My beast missed you too."

"What about you?" Yixing asked, his omega weakness showing in the vulnerability his words revealed.

Yifan did not respond for a while and Yixing tried not to cry,knew that Yifan's human side was not quite as attached to him as his wolf was but it didn't make it any easier to live with the almost despondent attitude Yifan showed. "Of course I did, I thought about you the whole time."

Yixing didn't believe him at first but there was not the heavy scent of deceit in the air, it was affection and longing coming from the alpha and Yixing drew back to look up at Yifan. "Really?"

"You're my mate and haven't fulfilled my duty as your alpha yet, I couldn't not think about you," Yifan sounded so exhausted that all Yixing wanted to do was collect him in his arms and let him sleep for days while the omega watched over the dormant alpha. Flesh to flesh contact was the easiest for mates to find comfort in one another and Yixing sat up to remove his shirt and toss it on the floor as he pressed himself against Yifan again. The alpha seemed to like the action as he made a deep purring noise, something he only seemed to do when his wolf was close to the surface but Yixing could see no golden flecks in his eyes, just brown rings that were as human as they could be.

"How was the pack you visited?"

"A mess," Yifan shifted slightly beneath where Yixing had laid out on top of him. "I don't know how they got to that point before I found out, it must have been months for them to live in such disarray."

"Is there anyway I can help?" Yixing hadn't meant for the question to be so suggestive but the way his voice was sleepily husky and his lips were brushing Yifan's had them taking on that lewder meaning.

"Is this my omega being a little tease again?"

"Maybe," Yixing giggled, his breath blowing into Yifan's mouth and he hoped with every part of him that the acrid taste of sleep hadn't infiltrated just yet. "Would my alpha like to be teased?"

"I don't know, it depends on something."

"What?" it was more of a sigh than a word but the slight glow to Yifan's eyes were telling him that he had both the attention of the human and the wolf.

"Tell us that we're special to you, that we'll be the most important to you."

The sudden insecurity had Yixing pulling away to look at Yifan properly, it was a strange atmosphere to be around an alpha who wasn't in excess of confidence but Yixing knew that he was most likely the root of that insecurity. It wasn't normal for a mated pair to wait so long between a claim and completing the bond, his blunder had secured that distance between them and Yixing knew he was the only one that could make it right again.

"I'll never need somebody as much as I need you, I will never want to be protected by anybody but you. I will never want to be this close to give skin to skin contact with somebody other than you. I will never touch myself thinking of another. I will let myself be consumed by you until we are two halves of the same whole. There is nothing my wolf wouldn't do for yours, there is nothing my human wouldn't do for yours and there is nothing we wouldn't do, as a collective, for you. We want to be as close as our human and wolf are within us to yours."

Yixing looked Yifan in the eye as he spoke and saw how his irises had become fully iridescent with gold.

"Omega," the wolf growled, making Yixing roll off his mate and reveal his neck to the other and the alpha pressed his nose right over where the mark he'd created was. "You are ours, just as much as we are yours?"

"We have been yours since the moment we met, alpha," Yixing whined, titling his head back painfully to completely submit to the older wolf.

"You are a beautiful creature, omega," the wolf murmured so softly that it could have been missed and Yixing's wolf was preening at the affectionate attention they were getting from their alpha.

"Alpha," Yixing's wolf came forward, his human side allowing the mates to rediscover their bond and Yixing saw how in love the two beasts were with each other. Yifan's wolf licked at his jaw and Yixing showed his submission as much as he could, it was a sign of complete trust and care. The alpha did not groom his underlings, he was the one who was groomed and to have it done by a wolf of such a rank, it was a sign of complete devotion.

Yixing wished to feel as enchanted with Yifan as his wolf did, the alpha seemed to rule over the wolf within him and the strong willed wolf didn't seem to mind, especially when Yifan had lived up to his early statement of being firm but fair. He had not heard a single negative comment about the alpha from his pack and there had only been honesty from the other wolves, it had made settling in all the more easy. He knew Yifan would take care of him, that he wouldn't just be the carer of the pack but Yifan would be there to guide him too.

It was a strange sentiment to live on, the word of others, but Yixing had adored that certain kind of stillness that had fallen over whenever Yifan was mentioned. It was awe. It was loyalty. It was requited filial love.

Nothing like what he had with his parents.

There was no pressure for Yixing to appear as the perfect image of a son, of a peacekeeping mate, and there was no preparation in being around Yifan. His wolf loved him even though they had called mating sex.

"Do you think our humans will love each other soon?" Yixing would have rolled his eyes at his wolf's ridiculous question if he could have, which earned him an internal growl.

"Of course."

"Why doesn't your human love us? Why is he resisting the pull as much as he is?" Yixing was trying to tell his wolf to stop but it seemed that he would not, he pressed on with more questions. "Why is he being so cold?"

"My human has his reasons," the wolf was cryptic and it annoyed Yixing to no end.

"My human needs to be loved too," the omega snarled, he always grew defensive with Yixing.

"Love takes time with humans."

"Bu-"

"Omega," the alpha warned, making Yixing's gaze fall in his recognition of submission.

Yifan's eyes changed and he appeared almost sad as he looked across at Yixing beside him, the space between them closing as the alpha moved in.

"I understand," Yifan laughed awkwardly. "Why don't we sleep now and I will explain everything to you in the morning?"

"Everything?" Yixing asked, "About your family?"

Yifan stared at him before muttering his second in command's name in a slight hiss, "Yes, I will tell you about my family and whatever else is relevant to me falling in love with you."

"Okay," Yixing smiled softly, edging towards the alpha slightly to tuck his head into his neck. Yixing liked being surrounded by the elder, it made him feel safe and connected to Yifan in the closest way they could be without mating. "I look forward to it."

Yifan let out a little laugh, one that seemed more comfortable and relaxed, which helped to soothe Yixing into losing his eyes and taking in the scent of his mate entirely. The alpha pressed a kiss to his forehead and Yixing couldn't stop himself from grinning at the affection shown by the human side of Yifan with his delicate touch of the lips.

The omega could taste the love blooming in his chest and there was nothing he would do to make Yifan experience the same too, it would be what could complete him. He wished for it to effortless. He wished for it to be weightless. But, a niggling part of his brain told him not to be so enthusiastic about that option. Yifan's past was a big part of the older wolf, much more than Yixing's short life, and there was nothing he had wanted more than to get to know the history he had never been taught. He wanted everything Yifan could give him.

Yixing woke the next morning with a face full of grumbling alpha, Yifan cursing out how Yixing slept with the blinds open and about how the light was casting right into his eyes. Though, what had him smiling silently to himself was how Yifan was using one of his arms to stop the rising sun from shining into his eyes, to stop Yixing from waking up prematurely like he had. However, that attempt had been futile, as Yixing's wolf had picked up on the fact that Yifan was awake and decided that he should be too.

Not that Yixing was complaining, he adored seeing his harsh looking mate be so affectionate.

"Good morning," he mumbled, the sound muffling on Yifan's chest but the alpha reciprocated the greeting calmly. "What time is it?"

"It's just gone five," Yifan griped. "We slept for three hours."

The omega conducted some quick math in his head, "You slept for three hours, I got a whole eight in."

"And here I am, trying to be considerate by shielding you from that devil star when it was your fault that the curtains are open," Yifan was cute when he was tired, Yixing deduced, enjoying how petulant his mate was being.

It got worse, it always did, when he peered up and saw a pout. He took a moment to register that it was the same man who had held his father y the neck in the most life threatening of ways that was grouchy because of a little sun. His alpha was pouting. Pouting.

"Do you want to swap sides? You'll be out of the sun then," Yixing hummed and let out an unmanly squeal when he felt himself be lifted and shifted so that Yifan could carry out his suggestion. The alpha had a small smile on his face as his face was cast in black once again, as if all of his worldly woes were solved by Yixing's mere idea. It was nothing to be enthralled over but Yixing had felt like it was anyway.

Yifan remained awake but held his eyes closed, as if he was still sleeping while conscious and Yixing enjoyed the sight more than he should have. The deep 'v' shape his mate's brows normally formed had smoothed out to be a tranquil picture of power; a different kind of light.

"You're handsome, you know that, right?" Yixing watched as Yifan's lips spread in a wide smile at the compliment. "Of course you do, you've had a ridiculous number of years of people telling you that."

"None meaning quite as much as that did though," Yifan assured him, making Yixing's wolf melt into a puddle of fur and mush within him.

Yixing had always known that his wolf was a little weak to Yifan's words but he had not known that the creature in his mind was that easy. Especially with the images of the wolf sent to the forefront of their mind of them rolling over, in their physical wolf form, and letting Yifan's wolf mount them. Yixing had pushed those thoughts right back to his wolf with a stern note that he should keep those thoughts purely to his animalistic side of his brain.

"Are you sure?"

Yifan's smile stretched further.

"Certain."

"You're affectionate when you're sleepy."

"No, it's just you."

"Are you sure?"

"Certain."

Yixing watched Yifan in silence for a few minutes more, allowing him to fully process that that was the man he was going to be spending the rest of his existence with, It was a heartwarming feeling that drew him further into the sea of love without so much as a life raft.

"You want me to tell you, don't you?" Only one of Yifan's eyes lifted open, the right one, to look at Yixing fully.

"Yes please," the younger shifted onto his front as Yifan sat up against the headboard, his chest being revealed by the falling duvet and Yixing marvelled at how time hadn't blemished even an inch of the skin.

"I guess I'll start as early as I can remember," Yifan closed his eyes again but they were squeezed shut as he cast his mind far back. Just how far, Yixing didn't know. "I was the second child that my parents had, my older brother was a beta, and I guess I was the pride and joy of my parents. Of my pack, when I think about it. I had nine other siblings after then, all a mix of betas and omegas, and it was like we were our own pack of thirteen. I found it difficult to handle the power I had instantly; I could tell anybody but my parents what to do and they had to do it.

"I could remember half abusing that power in my younger years, I would get into all kinds of trouble and command somebody else to take the blame in an honest way. I was malicious with it at times but that has no bearing on things now, it was just an adolescent boy testing out how many boundaries he could push. Now that I think back, it was a wonder my parents loved me as much as they did.

"But in those years, as soon as an alpha wolf came of age to take over his pack, the current alpha would have to abdicate. It was tradition and my family was very traditional. Too traditional, in fact. My father believed that to give the helm of the pack to a child meant that the previous alpha in control would have to be dead. There was a long period where my father disappeared for a while, a few weeks, and I was left in charge.

"My mother, she was great in that time. She guided me in leading and being the figurehead of a pack, which was exactly what I needed in the absence of my father. However, one day, I was hunting in the territory we had and I caught my father's scent. I ran home in some boundless energy of naiveté, I couldn't wait to tell my mother that her mate had returned but when I entered the house, it was empty. Not a wolf, not a soul, not a sound.

"I went up the stairs and could smell so many things, I could feel so many things. I didn't understand much about what happened when those feelings suddenly disappeared until I entered my parents' bedroom."

Yifan took a deep breath in, Yixing's eyes narrowing as he watched the alpha struggle with a demon inside of him, "My father," he began, he paused, "My father had killed my mother."

Yixing gasped, his stomach knotted and the memory of Yifan saying 'Love doesn't stop people from killing,' flooded into his mind.

"He'd taken my siblings and himself along with her, he'd forced me to be alone when I was only sixteen. My father had been with my mother for decades before I was born but he'd taken that stupid tradition too far and too painfully out of context that what he'd done had seemed to make sense to him."

"Fanfan," Yixing crawled up to his mate and touched his cheek, he was surprised to see Yifan with amber eyes staring back at him. "Alpha, why isn't Yifan here?"

"I need to protect him, his past has damaged him so much as it is and I need to keep him locked in to make sure that he doesn't get hurt anymore."

Yixing smiled kindly at his wolf-mate and made sure to kiss his cheek in gratitude, "You're such a wonderful wolf to your human."

"He's been so alone without you," the wolf revealed. "His heart hasn't felt since the last of his family faded away, you're making him discover his emotions again and he needs time to process. Be patient. We are a good alpha but we have been so long without a mate that healing will take so much time. We've done some horrible things because of our anger and then our detachment but we have learned, we're better now but there's so much left that's broken."

"I'm not going anywhere, we can fix you two," Yixing didn't cry, not when he could tell that Yifan had never cried to mourn the loss of his family. "I'm your family now."

"I don't know what he would do if he lost you. That's why he left after we met you, it was easier to not have you at all than to have you and lose you."

"But you wanted to be with me," Yixing's voice was hopeful, shy.

"Of course, I would never let anybody else have you," the possessive lilt in his voice jarred Yixing's brain in the most pleasant of ways. "I want Yifan to be happy too."

"I know you do."

"You're his happiness, Yixing, omega," it was quiet for a few more seconds before Yixing let his eyes drop down. The wolf came close to Yixing's ear and whispered, "He loves you, he just doesn't know what to do with it or how to express it. Teach him."

Before Yixing could reply, Yifan's eyes were their swirling tint of brown again.

"That's the short version," Yifan muttered, his stare not wavering from Yixing's face. "There's more stuff that happened after then but that's the main source of why my emotions are so crippled. I prefer being on my own. I love being in my wolf form because it's where I'm strongest. My biggest fear is fear because I never want to be as scared as I had been on that day."

"I can't say that I know what you're feeling but I can understand that it's going to take a while for you to accept me as somebody close to your heart when it's been so guarded for longer than I can imagine. There is no shame in any of this, it's good that you're not scared of being alone. Still, you never will be because you've got me," Yixing crawled into Yifan's lap to draw him closer, to show his heartbeat and to display is acceptance for his mate.

It was a primitive feeling to comfort his mate and Yixing knew that was what was driving him but he was glad for the supporting force within him. He could see the importance of mating to Yifan. To the older male it meant family, not a pack, but something he could let his heart stake a claim to and Yixing needed to be just that.

AΩ

Yifan noticed how Yixing was more outwardly affectionate after finding out the most monumental point of the alpha's life, he was calm and considerate when observing how Yifan interacted with other people. The alpha could often sense the eyes of the other drifting over to him and Yixing had constantly been at Yifan's side, the wolves between the two of them bonded happily as the humans allowed them to spend more time together. Yixing's wolf fussed over his alpha, which Yifan had found incredibly endearing.

The omega constantly asked if the alpha was feeling good that day, if he was feeling loved , and the wolf was so ridiculously in love with his mate that Yifan couldn't help but allow parts of that emotion into his own heart. It was difficult to maintain his cold interior, and exterior, when dimples and cute whining 'Aiyo wei's surrounded him. There was nowhere Yifan could go where there was no Yixing, not that he really minded when he adored the younger more and more as each day passed.

"Fanfan," the shorter male squealed, Yifan's tail tickling the back of the one in their human form's legs. "Stopit."

It was a natural reaction to beat the appendage even harder at the sound of his mate's voice or the giggle that accompanied it. The wolf smiled internally as Yixing let out laughs that echoed through their room, which was something he always wanted more of.

"If you do not behave then I will move," Yixing warned, making the wolf's tail stop with a muted thud to the floor and the wolf watched as his mate tried to read whatever book he had started.

Yifan was bored, he was always more energetic as his wolf and constantly needed attention to tire him out before he shifted back into his human form. His tail began to twitch again and Yixing let out an exasperated groan. "Do you want your tummy rubbed?"

The animal rolled over, his wagging lower half making his hips shake from side to side and Yixing laughed as the large beast reverted back into a pup. Yifan deduced that his wolf was experiencing some of the teasing playtime he had missed out on when his siblings were taken from him; Yixing didn't care. The younger wolf was still a cub in comparison to Yifan, so he was used to the the teasing attitudes that came with light bites, wolfish purrs and yips of delight when itches were scratched. It was thrilling to have such an affectionate mate, one that would sit on his knees and use both hands to ruffle at the thick black fur on his stomach.

"You are a big baby, alpha, I swear," the wolf huffed out in agreement as the omega continued his adoring actions. "Such a cute beast."

The wolf's tongue lolled to the side as his head turned to look at his younger mate, the human's soft facial features created a soft well where Yifan's hardened heart once had been, it was almost like the omega's hands were a pestle and mortar that ground away at the elder's iron cased heart. It made the human side of Yifan adore Yixing even more, the way he cared so wholeheartedly for everybody he met left a deep impression on the alpha and it was a point that Yifan had always searched for in a partner.

While he knew that mates were made for one another, he hadn't quite expected Yixing to be his perfect match. It wasn't accuracy, it was precision.

When the elder had shifted back to his two legged form, he showered and slipped into the bed beside his already settled mate, drawing him into his arms as a close contact comfort to his body. The couple rarely kissed, especially on the mouth, even though they had done so a few times. But, Yifan wanted to show his gratitude to the younger man.

He placed three fingers on Yixing's jaw, Yixing's eyes opened and Yifan tilted forward to push their lips together in the most gentle of brushes. Their mouths caressing one another was like whispering, breathy and short, before they pulled back. The omega surged onwards, his fervent lips searching for the alpha's in the dark and Yifan could sense the needy aura that engulfed Yixing. There was a constant pressure in the back of both of their heads, as well as from their wolves, to complete their bond. Yifan knew how Yixing felt about him without a shadow of a doubt in his mind and there was nothing terrifying about that anymore for the alpha. Yixing could tell him that he loved him and he was confident that he would be able to accept that emotion far more easily than he could have in the months prior to meeting Yixing.

"Fanfan," the smaller male whispered against his lips, "Can I submit to you?"

Yifan felt the words hit the pit of his stomach, the heat that it brought to his possessive side was almost palpable and there was a strength in the gentle way the younger had spoken. He was looking at the alpha in the dim light the moon cast in through the curtains.

"If that's what you want." The silent 'If you know what this means' didn't have to be spoken to be heard.

Yixing pulled back almost completely to remove his shirt, lay back against the pillows and expose the four pronged scar on his neck that had healed to be a shiny white, "Please, Fanfan."

The elder stared down at his mate before resting his thumb against the claiming mark and rubbing over it teasingly. A shudder crept through Yixing's body violently enough for Yifan to see it, the sight was a delicious delight that he had never been able to witness before and he would not have changed that for the world. It was an influx of emotion to see Yixing smile at Yifan's mild motions. The alpha replaced his thumb with his lips, licking, sucking and biting hungrily at the mark he had left on the first day they met. It was just as arousingly sweet as he could remember the younger's blood had tasted on his tongue, like the aroma had stayed right on his skin.

It aided Yifan in becoming titillated enough to feel himself grow harder, the willingness of the one whom he had been paired with by fate had his heart racing and blood boiling right beneath the surface; he could only imagine how the omega felt. Yifan pursuing intimacy was him accepting every part of Yixing, not his wolf deciding for the both of them and it was that conscious decision between the humans that was more profound than the instinctual drive that had brought them together.

Yifan laid himself gently over Yixing while being sure to keep his weight on his own arms rather than pressing into the smaller, his teeth nipped at the bite mark on Yixing's nape as teasingly as he could without his canines extending to reclaim the younger. The duvet was still draped over his shoulders but he couldn’t find it in himself to care all too much.

"Yifan," Yixing shifted beneath him, something hard pressing and rubbing against his thigh and he immediately knew that the minimal ministrations he'd done had made the younger sensitive to everything. He was worse than the first night they'd been together; Yixing seemed as if he'd been strung out over those weeks that passed and Yifan was finally giving up what he wanted. Which probably wasn't far from the truth.

"It's okay," the elder bolstered, "I know."

Yixing relaxed a little, his strained deep breath in and the shaky exhale had Yifan's wolf growling and trying to come forward to be the one who completed their bonding. He was, however, pressed back with reassurances that the human would take care of their mate, it was something he had to do himself to reaffirm his connection with the human half of Yixing.

The omega initiated another kiss, his hands falling down Yifan's bare chest to clutch at the back half of his ribs, the muscle that had ripened and rippled there over time moved with every small shift Yifan made. The omega gave in to the elder's dominance as their tongues met in his mouth. They danced around one another, the tip of Yifan's tongue teased at the sensitive flesh on Yixing's cheeks and flicked over the roof of his mouth, it had the smaller man whining into Yifan and clawing at his body.

Being the alpha had Yifan naturally taking the lead one of his hands walked down Yixing's side and settling over the hard member that was pressing hotly against the pyjama trousers he had donned for the night, it had Yixing gasping out and jerking his head so harshly upwards that he almost managed to crash into Yifan's. With a slight chuckle, Yifan took his mouth away from the saliva filmed lips beneath his and coasted them down Yixing's slender neck, his chest, leaving little licks over his nipples, kissing down his toned stomach and passing his navel to the sensitive skin that was paler than the rest as the duvet covered his head. The omega was already arching up into Yifan's mouth before he shuffled down that little bit more to test out a lick at the tip of Yixing's fully aroused cock.

The member was already bubbling with precum that was trying to drip down onto the omega's stomach and Yifan quickly licked the fluid up before it had the chance to be wasted on anywhere but his mouth. Yifan looked up at the younger, their gazes meeting in a fiery exchange as he slowly took the head of Yixing's cock between his lips and into his mouth. He sucked initially, ensuring that each drop of the somehow sweet tasting salty fluid made its way into his mouth. The alpha used one of his hands to grip at the base of Yixing's member, massaging it as he took the younger further into his mouth and to the beginning of his throat.

Yixing bucked up constantly in a feeble attempt to have Yifan take him deeper but the alpha kept his weight pressed just enough onto the other's hips to remove that capability. All Yixing had left to do was clutch at the hair on the back of his head almost painfully but the alpha's arousal managed to cover that sensation to a dull, pleasurable tug. Yixing whined and moaned at each small change in what Yifan was doing, wordlessly begging for more as Yifan felt himself vibrate with a possessive growl at the notion that he was pleasuring his mate so much to have him whimpering already. The quiver Yixing was assaulted with was a result of the grumble that reverberated through Yifan and he made note that the action made the younger feel good enough to give one sharp, harsh tug to the hair in his fingers.

"S-stop," Yixing panted, yanking Yifan back and throwing himself back onto the mattress from where he had curled up to have Yifan's mouth closer in the minutes before.

Yifan traced circles on the younger's stomach as he caught his breath back, their eyes still focused on one another until Yixing nodded in consent for Yifan to continue and Yifan sent a probing finger down Yixing's perineum and to where the lubricant of the omega's natural slick could be felt. He rubbed slowly over the clenching hole, coating his index finger in the thick liquid before dipping it in past the rim, swirling it slightly to give him more leeway with movement. It had Yixing tensing so much that the hand still on the younger's stomach rubbed even more soothingly at the coiled muscles there.

"Deep breaths," he whispered and Yixing nodded, settling into the pillows again with controlled breaths as Yifan continued to circle his finger within him. "So obedient."

"Shut up," Yixing frowned and Yifan smiled, his wolf enjoyed the ever so slightly feisty part of his mate.

A second finger was added and Yixing shifted with a screwed up face, if anything, Yifan felt awful for making his mate experience any type of discomfort but that part of the mating process was where he had to be cruel to be kind. It was more important that he prepared the other with care in hopes that it would ease some of the pain that would come with being knotted. "You're doing so well."

Yixing was going to say something in response but it came out as a shaky dispel as Yifan kissed at the soft insides of his thighs and he alpha relished in how the scent of the omega was so strong on the skin that had previously remained untouched. He let his hand drift down from the shorter's stomach across his skin until he was met with the bone of the omega's knee. It was there that he curled his hand around to grip at Yixing's thigh and rub up and down over the sensitive skin. It helped to distract the other, the alpha guessed, from the aching torrent that was scissoring within him.

Yifan tried to take as much care as he could in widening Yixing up enough to slip a third finger in to do the final stretch before they could allow themselves to mate fully with one another, it took restraint from the alpha when he had his wolf baying to take Yixing straight away. It was difficult to eradicate the images of Yifan ravaging his willing mate with bites, tongue filled kisses and rampant thrusts when they were being supplied by and extension of himself. He could merely compromise that Yixing's mating process should be something special. It was supposed to be a time where Yifan showed he could care for the other, that he could be the alpha he needed and could take the time to foreshadow how he would worship the omega with every ounce of himself.

It's what had Yifan edging back up Yixing's torso to suck and nip at the nipples he had given a little attention to previously. He adored how such minuscule actions could pry out such a wonderful reaction from the creature beneath him, everything was beautiful and everything was arousing.

The insertion of a third finger is what had Yifan closing his eyes in slight despair as Yixing let out the weakest whimper of pain he'd ever heard from another being but the younger urged him onwards when he offered to stop. He tried to make it as swift and efficient as he could, masking the pain with kisses to everywhere he could reach on Yixing's body and using his free hand to caress, tease and soothe wherever ached the most for the younger. He'd even stroked lazily at Yixing's cock for a few minutes, enjoying how much that relaxed the omega into loosening up that little bit more.

The alpha did a quick once over across his mate's body; observing how it shone with a veneer of perspiration, arched into his touches and showed the most trusting kind of submissions that it possibly could.

Yifan settled on his shins between Yixing's legs as he withdrew his fingers from the other's behind, he gently lifted Yixing's hips to rest on his thighs before he leant forward to capture the younger in a surprise kiss, which was responded to with equal amount of slowly paced affection. It was like Yifan could feel himself opening up the younger and submitting to their bond as warmth spread in his chest.

He didn't stop kissing Yixing as he used one of his hands to press at Yixing's entrance and push his way in as gradually as he could. Yifan felt Yixing grimace against his lips and the younger's svelte hands gripped at his arms with a blood drawing clench. The alpha broke the kiss for a second, only letting his lips hover over Yixing's for a few moments to say, "I'm so sorry, it will get better, I promise."

Yixing didn't say anything but he nodded with his eyes clenched tightly, his breath laboured and Yifan made sure to kiss every part of Yixing's face that he could reach without pulling away when his mate needed his comfort. He hated how that strained expression didn't change even when he had been fully seated within the younger for a short while, yet every resilient Yixing persevered onwards until he could lay back with more gentle breaths.

"Yifan," Yixing mumbled, shuffling his hips slightly and there was a moment when the alpha was worried that his mate was trying to go too fast. Then the omega began to grind and flick his hips more times, his face fell open in scaling pleasure with every movement and he smiled at how handsome his mate was when his face was scrunched in concentration.

The alpha placed both hands on either side of Yixing's hips to still his movements then begin to draw out of the younger to thrust slowly back in, Yixing's eyes opened to look up at Yifan with a smiling regard. It encouraged the alpha to roll his hips more into the other, his pelvis meeting with Yixing's derriere before he pulled back in a fluidly controlled motion only to push back in and hold it there for a few seconds.

He lessened his hold on Yixing's midriff to let the omega return the thrusts that had been going in and out of him, making them both moan. The alpha's was more of a deep and low growl that made him seem more out of control than his body's movements reflected and Yixing appeared to be in a state of sheer bliss as his eyes glaze over ever so slightly. While it wasn't what his wolf wanted, Yifan adored the slow build up of their mating and could see how Yixing was becoming more receptive to the pleasure his body was trying to pulse around within him. It was an intoxicating experience to be sliding in and out of his mate who was the perfect tightness to grip around Yifan without being a suffocating feeling.

"Fuck," he whispered as Yixing started to kiss at his chest, bringing them even closer than before until their hips were doing nothing but grinding into one another.

Howbeit, the sensation that Yifan couldn't get over feeling was the sense of belonging when Yixing touched him or their eyes met in an intense exchange of emotion; a connection as honest as the wilderness. There was no voiding how perfectly they fit together and Yifan let his head fall down beside Yixing's ear. His breath went directly onto Yixing's mark and one of his hands went to Yixing's left leg to drag it up to the younger's chest, it allowed him to gyrate his hips with a freedom that Yixing's kissing hadn't allowed previously.

"Yixing, Xing, Xing," he groaned as the younger found a rhythm that Yifan couldn't help but close his eyes in bliss at.

"I want," Yixing began before taking in a breath, "I want to go on top."

The words alone would have been enough to have Yifan stuttering to agree but the needy way in which it sighed out of Yixing's lips had Yifan obeying his mate's request and laying himself back down against the sheets as Yixing sat up on his lap, the duvet pooling around his hips. That sight alone had Yifan feeling his knot grow the slightest bit larger and he knew the other felt it as his eyes flickered for a split second before he placed two hands on Yifan's stomach to stabilise himself as he rose up on the alpha's lap.

Yifan's palms settled on the younger's hips to aid him in bringing himself up off the alpha's lap and then back down with a loud keen of Yifan's name from his lips, the elder wasn't in any better of a position as he struggled to keep his eyes open to watch his mate bring them both pleasure. The omega's undulating waist had his muscles contracting beneath his skin and Yifan wished he could lick at every inch of his mate being revealed to him in the dark room.

Watching Yixing in such a way made Yifan realise that Yixing was the right one for him, he couldn't deny what built up inside of him when he saw how the other reacted to his touches and felt he bond that was growing with every ecstasy inducing movement. There were no sounds of skin slapping or either of them screaming out in short intervals, it was soft sighs and bitten lips on the bed they shared. Yifan's knot grew steadily the more he looked at the one on his lap, his right hand moved across to massage Yixing's cock and bring him a string of pleasure that couldn't be avoided. The omega took the pleasure well, his eyes remained locked on Yifan's and his hands curling up to dig his nails into Yifan's stomach as his orgasm built as hastily as the alpha's.

"Yixing," Yifan's voice came out as a gravelly growl, to which Yixing's member twitched in his hand at the sound, "bite me."

The omega's mouth flew forward as Yifan showed his own neck to his mate and he felt his stomach be coated in Yixing's cum as the younger bit down on the flesh shown to him. He could suddenly sense the overstimulated confusion rolling from Yixing's body; feeling Yifan's knot still growing within him, the alpha's hand on his shaft and the completion of their bond flooding in as he bit at Yifan's neck. It was no surprise that the omega went listless, his body dealing with the overwhelming sensations and Yifan felt his body lose itself to his own orgasm as the younger clenched with aftershocks around him.

With his knot fully swollen and pulsing copious amounts of cum into the omega, his wolf growled and it rumbled through their bedroom as their connection was fully completed. Yifan couldn't stop his beast from coming forward, rolling Yixing onto his back and biting over where he had marked previously. That, the human part of Yifan knew, was too much for the omega to process as he felt the body beneath his go entirely limp with exhaustion and his wolf pulled their head back to watch over their mate.

The human pushed the beast back and used what strength he had left himself to place Yixing on top of his chest, being careful of not moving his oversensitive knot too much within the younger. It was a shock that he felt what he did as he felt Yixing slowly regain a little more consciousness. It was a serene moment that Yifan found his chest lightening to relieve itself from the strain of loneliness that he hadn't realised weighed so heavily within him. There were a handful of seconds before Yifan noticed that his left eye had a tear hanging at the perimeter of his lashes, he clenched his eyes shut and felt it spill over as he kissed the hair of the male sleeping on him.

"I do love you," he murmured before he let himself lay back with more teardrops cascading down his temples, the relief of having somebody as his family inundated him with an emotional rawness that he only wanted to show his mate.

Yifan watched Yixing wake up a few hours later, the omega yawning cutely before looking up over at the alpha, whose knot had long since faded. "Hello."

The younger didn't reply but hid himself in Yifan's chest with a broad smile on his face and the elder knew that Yixing was just as happy as he was to be mated.

"How are you feeling?"

"A little sore but not as bad as I expected," Yixing's voice was a little choked and the taller passed him the glass of water they always kept at the side of the bed. The shorter sat up and accepted the drink willingly, Yifan's hands massaged at the tight muscles on Yixing's spine and it had the omega sighing happily in his lap.

"That's good," the alpha replied after a few more seconds, his gazing staying put on Yixing's face.

The shorter crawled forward to place the cup back on the bedside table, his sternum passing right by Yifan's head and the alpha couldn't help but lick experimentally at the omega's chest.

"That's gross, I'm all sweaty," Yixing whined, which had Yifan pinning him down in retaliation and using his tongue to go in swipes all across his skin. "Fanfan!"

Yifan laughed at the scandalised tone the omega used to scold him with and continued in his 'cleaning' of the younger, slowly drawing out giggles from Yixing's mouth as he tickled at sensitive parts of his skin. The feeling of elation and happiness that Yifan drew from Yixing had him certain that he was in love with Yixing, that he could only ever love Yixing.

He sat up with a pleased smile once he had finished and enjoyed how Yixing looked over him appreciatively, the slight smell of the omega's arousal filling the air and Yifan raised an eyebrow.

"It's not my fault," the younger grumbled and Yifan laughed, his gums and all showing as Yixing huffed out.

"It's okay," Yifan reassured him, "I'm no better when I look at you."

"Is this some strange confession?"

"I already did all of my confessing last night but you were sleeping," Yifan shrugged and Yixing pushed at his shoulders.

"That's not something to joke about."

"But I did tell you that I love you," Yifan laughed back, looking to see Yixing pout and then that petulant expression was traded for pale faced shock.

"You did?"

Yifan placed Yixing down, crawling on top of him to look directly into the omega's eyes, "I love you." Yixing didn't say anything but Yifan bore witness to his ears, cheeks and neck turning pink in a blushing state of shock. "Yixing, you're my mate and I love you."

The omega slowly smiled and wrapped around Yifan's neck in a tight hug that had his shoulders coming away from the bed to cling at the alpha.

"You have no idea what that means to me," Yixing whispered in an almost sombre tone but then he was nuzzling deeply into the elder's nape. "You've let me in even though you've been so hurt by people who loved you before, you trust me."

"Yixing, I've had hundreds of years to deal with my losses, it isn't as raw to me as you or my wolf think," Yifan revealed, "I've had no reason to love since then, until I met you. So don't worry about me, worry about how you're going to escape my morning tickles."

Yifan's fingers went to Yixing's ribs and wriggled on the bare skin, making Yixing squeal suddenly and the alpha saw the flash of amber in Yixing's irises as his wolf sat below the surface. The taller let his own wolf do the same before challenging Yixing with a quirked eyebrow and he let the omega flip them over.

AΩ

"You've made him gross," Minseok slanted his eyes at Yixing as they both watched their alpha approach with only jeans and a wide smile on. "Though, I do think this is his real self, it's weird."

"Do want the old Yifan back because there's a way I can do that, you know?" Yixing smiled knowingly at Yifan's second in command. "Temporarily, of course."

"I think I'll regret this but I am finding it difficult to say no."

"That's a yes then," Jongdae whispered as Yifan came within reaching distance.

"Fanfan," Yixing whined, stepping into the tall man's arms, "What alpha would you have given me to at my birthday?" A rumbling sound emanated from the chest beneath his ear, "What other alpha do you think would suit me?"The growl became slightly louder but Yixing ignored it. "I know who I would pick."

Yixing chanced a peek up at the alpha and hid his smile as he saw the dark expression, the neutral one Yifan used when he was covering his true emotions and his happy scent disappeared from around them.

"I'd want one with lighter hair, blonds have always been my type," Yixing started to laugh as Yifan became more and more irrationally annoyed with the words slipping out of his mouth. "Do you think I would suit being a blond?"

"No."

"Why not?" Yixing teased.

"You're mine," the elder growled, looking down at him with eyes that flickered back and forth from brown to golden.

"It actually worked," Jongdae clapped with his obnoxiously loud laugh, "He went from being fluffy to cold so quickly."

Yifan didn't look at him though, his eyes were narrowly set on Yixing who was beaming up on him, "I was only joking, Fanfan."

"It's not funny," the alpha grumbled, clearly not liking to be the butt of a joke.

"It is," Yixing nodded.

"I guess I'll go find some other omega to spend my time with then," Yifan retorted, turning from the shorter male to walk back towards the forest.

Yixing felt the smile slip off his face as a strong wave of jealousy and possessiveness over came him, making him stalk towards where his alpha had disappeared behind the treeline.

"Wu Yifan," the omega warned, "If you so much as look at another omega I will," Yixing paused, thinking of something worthy enough to threaten Yifan with, "I will withhold sex for the rest of our lives."

Two arms grabbed Yixing's waist from behind and the soothing warmth under his skin at the touch told him who it was, "We both know you wouldn't do that, baobei."